Bulgaria's energy regulator said on Wednesday it plans to fine the local power
distribution units of Czech companies CEZ and Energo-Pro, and Austria's EVN over
accounting and other irregularities.
The move comes against the backdrop
of an ongoing procedure for the revocation of the three companies'
licences.
Following a series of checks at CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria
[BUL:3CZ], EVN Bulgaria Elektrorazpredelenie and Energo-Pro Grid [BUL:2EG], the
regulator established that the companies have been paying unjustified commission
fees to affiliates and reporting inflated costs for consultancy services, the
State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) said in a statement posted
on its website.
The regulator established a combined 2,690 violations at
the three companies over the 2008-2012 period, as the bulk were related to the
replacing of electricity meters. SEWRC established a number of violations
related to substandard power supplies, as well.
The three companies have
overstated their costs, exceeding by 818 million levs ($573.7 million/418.2
million euro) in total the relevant cap set by the regulator, it
said.
Earlier in the day, state-run news agency BTA reported that each
violation carries a fine of between 20,000 and 1.0 million levs.
CEZ
Razpredelenie Bulgaria, EVN Bulgaria Elektrorazpredelenie and Energo-Pro Grid
may appeal each statements within a three-day period.
A day earlier,
Bulgaria's competition regulator said the three power distribution companies are
abusing their dominant position on the local market, charging unreasonably high
prices for access to their low voltage overhead power distribution network, thus
restricting and preventing competition.
The three companies denied any
wrongdoing, saying they will file their objections to the competition
regulator's decision within the law-prescribed time-frame.
In April,
SEWRC launched a procedure to revoke the licences of the three power
distributors after it was notified by the state-owned power utility NEK that
they owe it a total of over 347.6 million levs in outstanding
payments.
The power distributors have said they owe debt-ridden NEK
nothing, claiming that it had failed to pay them compensations for being obliged
to buy electricity generated by wind and solar power installations.
The
regulator's decision to revoke the power distribution companies’ licences
prompted European energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger to send last month a
warning letter to Bulgaria's energy ministry in connection with the country's
policy in the electricity sector.
At the time, internet portal EurActiv
quoted the commissioner's spokesperson, Sabine Berger, as saying that the energy
regulator should act independently from the government and market interest,
impartially and transparently, adding that disputes between energy companies are
to be handled by the commercial courts in the first place.